Event Name: Tenth Anniversary National Conference on Microfinance – “New Decade, New Challenges: Regulation as a Driver of Development”

Event Date: November 16, 2011 to November 18, 2011

Event Location: Moscow, Russia Continue Reading »

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based development finance institution, has agreed to make a four-year, local-currency loan of TJS 29 million (USD 6 million) to AccessBank Tajikistan, a bank that specializes in financial services for micro- and small enterprises (MSEs). Continue Reading »

responsAbility Social Investments AG (responsAbility), a Swiss asset management company that invests in microfinance institutions (MFIs) and microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs), recently reported to MicroCapital that it made debt investments totaling USD 8 million through MIVs it manages in the following institutions: USD 3 million to Kompanion Financial Group Microfinance Closed Joint Stock Company, an MFI in Kyrgyzstan; USD 2 million to Eskhata Bank, an institution in Tajikistan that lends to micro- and small businesses; and USD 3 million to XacBank, a community development MFI in Mongolia. Continue Reading »

Absolute Portfolio Management GmbH, an Austrian investment company that specializes in microfinance, recently reported that its Dual Return Fund, a sub-fund of Vision Microfinance, made debt investments totaling USD 3 million in unnamed microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Mongolia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and Ecuador. Continue Reading »

responsAbility Social Investments AG, a Swiss investment company that manages four microfinance investment vehicles (MIVs), recently reported to MicroCapital that it has made debt investments worth the equivalent of USD 27.4 million in NBD Bank, a commercial bank in Russia, and three microfinance institutions (MFIs): Microcredit Foundation Prizma of Bosnia and Herzegovina; FINCA Russia; and Forus Bank, also of Russia. Continue Reading »

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a development finance institution, has agreed to make a three-year, local-currency loan of KGS 270 million (USD 6 million) to Bai Tushum and Partners, a non-banking microfinance institution (MFI) operating in the Kyrgyz Republic. Continue Reading »

President of Kyrgyzstan, Roza Otunbayeva, reportedly said at the recent Central Asian Microfinance Fair that microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Kyrgyzstan are emulating the banking sector in providing loans in the country. Continue Reading »

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), an international financial institution headquartered in the UK, recently announced that it will lend RUB 2.0 billion Continue Reading »

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), an international financial institution headquartered in London, recently announced that it has committed to loan the equivalent of USD 3 million in the local currency, somoni, to Imon International LLC, a microfinance provider in Tajikistan [1]. The loan marks the expansion of EBRD’s Local Currency Lending Programme in Early Transition Countries (ETC) to Tajikistan for the first time. The ETC Initiative aims to stimulate economic activity in the countries served by EBRD that are deemed to face the most significant economic challenges. With this 4-year loan, EBRD aims to allow the Tajik borrowers, including small enterprises, microfinance institutions and small banks, avoid taking on exchange-rate risks, which can force borrowers to repay much more than expected if exchange-rates change significantly. Continue Reading »

The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a microfinance investment fund incorporated in Luxembourg, recently reported to MicroCapital that it has made debt investments worth a total of EUR 34 million (USD 49.7 million) in three banks that support micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs): Raiffeisen Banka Serbia, ProCredit Bank Macedonia and Mikrofin Banja Luka of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Continue Reading »

The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a microfinance investment fund incorporated in Luxembourg, recently reported to MicroCapital that it has made debt investments worth a total of USD 29 million in Raiffeisen Bank Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), a bank that provides corporate, retail and investment banking services. Continue Reading »

The Social Performance (SP) Start-up Fund for Networks, an initiative aimed at increasing the implementation and transparency of SP processes and tools by microfinance institutions (MFIs), recently initiated a call for proposals from national microfinance associations from Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa for projects aiming to support SP activities. Continue Reading »

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), an international financial institution headquartered in the UK, recently announced it has committed USD 5 million to co-finance up to 50 percent of loans issued by XacBank, a Mongolian community development microfinance institution (MFI). Continue Reading »

The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), a microfinance investment fund incorporated in Luxembourg, agreed to loan USD 10 million to Araratbank at EFSE’s recent annual meeting in Armenia. Continue Reading »

The European Investment Fund (EIF), a public-private partnership (PPP) that supports financial institutions in Europe that serve small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), has agreed to loan EUR 5 million (USD 7.2 million) to Šiauliu Bankas, a Lithuanian bank that provides finance to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). Continue Reading »

Incofin Investment Management (Incofin), a Belgian fund manager that invests in microfinance, recently reported to MicroCapital that it loaned USD 5 million from the Incofin VDK MFI Loan Portfolio to XacBank, a community development microfinance institution (MFI) in Mongolia. Continue Reading »

The Afghan government reportedly has decided to model its microfinance programs after the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF), a government program that provides loans, grants and technical assistance to microfinance institutions (MFIs).  Continue Reading »

International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, recently announced it will loan USD 20 million to Khan Bank LLC of Mongolia to help strengthen its capital position and increase lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The seven-year subordinated loan will allow the bank to offer up to 14,000 new loans to SMEs through the end of 2015. Khan Bank reports that it serves about 80 percent of all Mongolian households and that most of its borrowers are women.  Continue Reading »